Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 24th Annual Brickyard 400 with a lap of 48.051 seconds, 187.301 mph. This is his 23rd pole in 446 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races.This is his fourth pole and 17th top10 start in 2017.This is his second pole in 13 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 13th top10 start of 2017 and his eighth in 17 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jamie McMurray (third) posted his sixth top10 start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is his 16th in 20 races this season. Erik Jones (ninth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
“The Skittles Camry has been fast,” said Busch. “The guys worked hard on it today in practice in the abbreviated sessions we had. We only worked on race trim – we didn’t work on any qualifying stuff. It’s pretty cool to show the speed right there and to get ourselves another pole here and hopefully go out there and be able to set sail tomorrow.”
Triple Threat: Kyle Busch Tries For Third Straight Brickyard Win
Kyle Busch will try to capture the second straight win for Joe Gibbs Racing when he goes for his third consecutive victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday.
“Circumstances and luck,” describe Busch with regards to winning his third straight time. “That’s about it. Everything else, it’s just a matter of being able to do the right things and hit your right marks and do what you can do behind the wheel to make sure everything goes the way it needs to. The stars have to align here for sure in order for you to be able to go out there and get what you need to get for a win.”
In addition to winning the last two races at the Brickyard, Busch has placed in the top-two there in four of the last five races. In 12 career Indy starts, Busch has two wins, five top fives, 10 top 10s and a 9.0 average finish (second-best).
Among active drivers at Indianapolis, Busch has the second-best average running position (10.8) and driver rating (105.5).
Busch has won at least one race every season since he began running in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2005.
“I think it would mean everything to us[winning the Brickyard 400 for a third time],” said Busch. “We just had some struggles, some stuff going on this year. We want to be able to close out the deal and get a race win. We haven’t been able to do that this year. First and foremost, I think that’s where we are and what we want to see tomorrow past the three-peat and being able to make history with three in a row.”
Kevin Proot ( STLRACING.COM / St. Louis Racing News)
Photos: Larry Vancil (STLRACING.COM / St. Louis Racing News)